Tony Award-winning casting director Geoffrey Johnson passed away Friday at the age of 91.
Johnson died in his sleep of respiratory failure at Henry J. Carter Specialist Hospital in New York, his representative said.
Along with business partner Vincent Liff, Johnson helped stage long-running Broadway shows Cats, Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. The selection company they co-founded, Johnson-Liff, hosted Broadway shows like Elephant man, Dream girls, Saigon aunt and Spiderwoman’s kiss.
Johnson and Liff were awarded the Tony Award for Excellence in Stage in 2003, and also received the Hoyt Bowers Award and the Artios Award from the Actors Guild of America.
Born in New York City on June 23, 1930 as a high school teacher and obstetrician, Johnson grew up in Larchmont, New York.
After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, Johnson spent a stint as an actor, appearing in Saint Joan on Broadway in 1956, and worked as a stage manager for several Broadway shows. He eventually met Noël Coward, working with him on the Broadway production of Sail Away. Johnson served as Coward’s representative in the United States until Coward’s death in 1973.
Following the closure of Johnson-Liff in 2002, Johnson served on the Tony nomination committee for several years and was a trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation and chair of the Coward archival trust. He founded a Coward Fellowship at the Yale School of Drama in 2016.
Johnson is highly regarded by his longtime partner Jerry Hogan, who founded the talent agency Henderson-Hogan. He is survived by his niece Valerie Cortalano, grandson Bruce Johnson and many great nephews and cousins.
Instead of flowers, donations can be made to the Noël Coward Foundation, Calvary Hospital and the Actors Foundation.
